probability

Plural

probabilities

1. 1.The state of being probable.

   • Thus though this degree of faith is but one remove from disbelief, (denial) nevertheless as much probability is given to one side of the question as the other, and we stand, as it were, on an average between two.

2. 2.An event that is likely to occur.

   • As all experience shows, the probabilities are, that you will waste the rich treasure of your affection on one who has none to give in return, or who is wholly unworthy of the gift.
   • These waters wash from the rocks such glistering tinctures, that the ground in some places seemeth as guilded, that better iudgements then ours might haue been perswaded, they contained more then probabilities.

3. 3.The relative likelihood of an event happening.

   • Hoyle said that the probability of life originating on Earth is no greater than the chance that a hurricane, sweeping through a scrapyard, would have the luck to assemble a Boeing 747.

4. 4.A number, between 0 and 1, expressing the precise likelihood of an event happening.

   • The probability of an event A occurring is denoted P(A).

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Synonyms

• chance